Hay in Her Pockets

For the last year, I’ve been watching Lindy trot around at liberty and wondering what I have done by bringing home this horse who moves like a sewing machine needle when she gets excited– her legs going up and down faster and faster and faster. Meanwhile, there would be Sadie, doing a lovely, floaty, balanced [...]

I have been lucky in that I have never owned a horse who had a serious loading problem.  But I did once bring home a horse on trial who had a trailering issue.  As in, the day I went to pick her up to bring her home, it took over an hour of several cowboys [...]

1.  Sadie, Roxy, The Kid, and I all got to the show grounds safely and with all the necessary equipment, arriving exactly at the same time as GrammiSue:                   2.  We schooled cross-country on Friday and despite the heat (mid-high 90′s), a few wacky leaps and hard [...]

Lindy is working on some kind of big-girl stuff this week.  Because apparently going to a show with Sadie is making me focus on Lindy a little more too.  This is partly because I’ve had a little more time to devote to the horses between waiting for the editor to send the novel back and [...]

I will admit it: I do not enjoy math. I do not use much math in my daily life, and when I do, I try to use a calculator or a spreadsheet to do the sums for me. The day I learned that for some people (the person in question being Robert, the stereotypical “nerd” [...]

I wish I had known as a kid that it was OK to be scared and nervous. That these feelings were valid. But I was a know-it-all kid and that meant I couldn’t admit weakness. As an adult, I have been known to say “I’m scared” or “this feels too fast!” in the middle of [...]

We had our best ride yet.  By “Best” I mean: 1a.  We made it around the round pen in both directions several times. 1b.  The Kid didn’t even cry!  Maybe I should have told him sooner that Lindy might be his very own pony some day.  Or maybe I should have figured out sooner that [...]

OK, so the title of this post is a little misleading.  No, I haven’t ridden Lindy yet.  That’s still officially scheduled for her birthday (4/24) and unofficially scheduled for this Thursday (4/14)… but shhhhh!  That’s a secret. Anyway, one of the little training techniques I really love is Ponying.  I first discovered ponying when I [...]

The date upon which I have decided to finally sit on Lindy’s back is rapidly approaching.  As in, it’s only two weeks away.  Accordingly, I’ve been working with Lindy more often and checking to make sure all systems are go.  This week, the test I decided on was throwing my leg over Lindy’s back to [...]

As a kid, I thought ground tying was something only cowboys did out on the range.  I also didn’t understand how it was possible to get a horse to “stay” with all kind of temptations around (grass, wide open spaces), let alone if something scary came along.  But as an adult, I learned  how to [...]